Why does the ending of sleeps sound like a S, the end of dreams sound like a Z, and the end of races is a whole new syllable with a sound like IZ?
There are three ways of pronouncing the final S at the end of words in English:
/s/, /z/, or /iz/.

Our charts explains the general rules for the pronunciation of words ending in –S. These words are normally regular plural nouns or third person verbs in the simple present tense.

This resource is ideal for teenage or adult ESL/ELL students to help them sound more like a native speaker. It is a great reference guide to help accent modification.

Summary Chart
The first chart is a summary of how to pronounce the final -S showing /iz/, /s/, or /z/ endings with examples.

Summary Chart – Smaller 2 per page version
Then we have a smaller version of this same chart with two of them on one page (surrounded by cutting lines).

/iz/ Pronunciation Chart
This chart contains examples of words that end with a sibilant sound giving us the /iz/ pronunciation (and extra syllable) when adding an S to the end. There is a box for each letter (C, S, X, Z, SS, CH, SH, GE) and six examples of that letter (e.g. for C are the words advances, bounces, dances, forces, introduces, and races).

/s/ Pronunciation Chart
This chart contains examples of words that end with the voiceless /s/ pronunciation. There is a box for each letter (P, K, T and F) with six examples for each letter. GH and PH are in the same box with two examples for each. There are three blank boxes at the bottom of the page which can be used for additional notes or examples if desired.

/z/ Pronunciation Chart
This chart contains examples of words that end with the voiced /z/ pronunciation. There is a box for each letter (B, D, G, L, M, N, R and V) with six examples for each letter.

Pronunciation Mix Chart
The final chart contains a variety rules:

VOWEL SOUND: There are 12 examples of verbs that end in a vowel sound that have the voiced /z/ pronunciation at the end (e.g. agrees, plays, etc.).

NG: We look at how the letter S after NG sounds like a Z thus having a voiced /z/ ending. (6 examples of words ending in NGS)

TH: There are two ways of pronouncing TH (ð and θ). Words that end in the voiced dental fricative TH /ð/ have a voiced pronunciation of the final S ending. We give six examples of words ending in this way (e.g. bathes, breathes, clothes…)
Words that end in the voiceless dental fricative /θ/ have a voiceless pronunciation of the final S ending. We give six examples of words ending in this way (e.g. breaths, months, strengths…)

There are two versions of these charts, one that is designed in one color (green) and the other is with color-coding of /iz/ in green, /s/ in orange, and /z/ in blue. Check the preview to see this difference.

I have also created a pronunciation video on YouTube about this topic: Final S pronunciation in English – How to pronounce words ending in S (Suitable for the classroom).

CONTENT: This resource contains 12 Pages:

Color-coded Version:

• Pronunciation of Final S – Summary Chart – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of Final S – Summary Chart – Smaller Version – (1 page)
• Sibilant /iz/ Chart – (1 page)
• Voiceless /s/ Chart – (1 page)
• Voiced /z/ Chart – (1 page)
• Additional Chart – Vowels, TH and NG – (1 page)

One-color (green) Version:

• Pronunciation of Final S – Summary Chart – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of Final S – Summary Chart – Smaller Version – (1 page)
• Sibilant /iz/ Chart – (1 page)
• Voiceless /s/ Chart – (1 page)
• Voiced /z/ Chart – (1 page)
• Additional Chart – Vowels, TH and NG – (1 page)

LEVEL: Intermediate (CEFR – B1 Level)
AGE: 10+
Format: .PDF

Afiches para aprender la pronunciación de palabras que terminan con S en inglés.

The objective of these tasks cards is learn the sounds of ED at the end of verbs in English.

Each task card says: How do you pronounce -ED at the end of the following verb? Followed by a verb ending in -ED. Below the verb are three alternatives: a) /id/ b) /t/ c) /d/.
Students need to write the correct alternative on their answer sheet.

The 32 verbs included in these task cards are: added, agreed, amazed, changed, chased, closed, danced, fixed, folded, followed, helped, laughed, lived, needed, offered, passed, provided, pushed, reached, rubbed, screamed, smiled, sniffed, started, stayed, stopped, tried, turned, visited, voted, waited, worked.

A teacher answer key has been created which can also be used by students to check their own work. This makes it ideal as a literary center activity.

This resource is ideal for teenage or adult ESL/ELL students to help them sound more like a native speaker when it comes to saying words that end in ED (accent reduction).

I have created a pronunciation video on YouTube about this topic: ED pronunciation in English – How to pronounce ED endings (Suitable for the classroom).

CONTENT: This resource contains 10 Pages:

• Pronunciation of ED – Task cards – (8 pages)
• Pronunciation of ED – Student Answer Sheet – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Teacher Answers – (1 page)

LEVEL: Intermediate (CEFR – B1 Level)
AGE: 10+
Format: .PDF

Tarjetas de selección múltiple (u opción múltiple) para aprender la pronunciación de palabras que terminan con ED en inglés.

The objective of this activity is to help students distinguish the sounds of ED at the end of words in English.

The teacher (guide) has 3 lists of words ending in -ED (they are all regular past tense verbs). Each list contains 18 words. The teacher reads out each word from a list and students need to write the word they hear in the correct column according to the final ED sound each word has.
There are three columns for students to choose from: /t/ – /d/ – /id/
For example, when the teacher says “wanted”, students need to write that word in the “/id/” column.
Not only are students becoming more aware of the three sounds of -ED, but this activity can also double as a spelling exercise.
As mentioned before, there are three lists. Each list could be used on different days. Note that List 3 has slightly more challenging words.

Teacher answer keys have been created which can also be used by students to check their own work. There is a separate page for each list of 18 words.

This resource is ideal for ESL/ELL students to help them sound more like a native speaker when it comes to saying words that end in ED (accent reduction).

I have created a pronunciation video on YouTube about this topic: ED pronunciation in English – How to pronounce ED endings (Suitable for the classroom).

CONTENT: This resource contains 5 Pages:

• Pronunciation of ED – Teacher Word Lists – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Student Worksheet – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Teacher Answers – (3 pages)

LEVEL: (Pre-) Intermediate (CEFR – B1 Level)
AGE: 9+
Format: .PDF

Una actividad de escuchar palabras que terminan en ED en inglés y escribir cada palabra en la columna correcta de acuerdo a su pronunciación.

The objective of this activity is to learn the sounds of ED at the end of words in English.

There is a list of words ending in -ED. Students need to cut out each word and then paste/glue them in the correct column according to the sound of the final ED each word has.

One activity has 15 words with the cut and paste activity happening on the same page.
The second activity has 30 words on one page which need to by cut and pasted into their correct columns on a separate page. The ED words in both activities are different.

Also, there are two versions of both activities:
One where the three columns are headed with T, D, and ID;
The second version also with three columns though headed with T, D, and ED.
Notice how the only difference is ID or ED being written differently in the final column. This is because some teachers use ED at lower levels instead of the normal ID.

A teacher answer key has been created which can also be used by students to check their own work. This makes it ideal as a literary center activity.

This resource is ideal for ESL/ELL students to help them sound more like a native speaker when it comes to saying words that end in ED (accent reduction).

I have created a pronunciation video on YouTube about this topic: ED pronunciation in English – How to pronounce ED endings (Suitable for the classroom).

CONTENT: This resource contains 7 Pages:

• Pronunciation of ED – 15 words – Full border – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – 15 words – Border only around Pasting area – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – 30 words – Pasting worksheet (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – 30 words – Cutting worksheet (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Teacher Answers – (3 pages)

* There are an additional 7 pages using the ED version for a column instead of ID as mentioned previously (7 pages). The rest of the activity is exactly the same.

LEVEL: (Pre-) Intermediate (CEFR – B1 Level)
AGE: 7+
Format: .PDF

Una actividad de cortar y pegar palabras que terminan en ED en inglés en la columna correcta de acuerdo a su pronunciación.

The objective of this word search is learn the sounds of ED at the end of words in English.

The word search contains 18 regular past tense verbs ending in ED. Six of them end in an /id/ sound, six end in a /t/ sound, and six of them end in a /d/ sound. Students need to find the words in the word search and then write them in the correct column according to the sound of the final ED that each word has.

There are two versions of this word search: One where the three columns are headed with T, D, and ID, the second version also with three columns though headed with T, D, and ED. Notice the only difference is ID or ED being written differently in the final column. This is because some teachers use ED at lower levels instead of the normal ID.

A teacher answer key has been created which can also be used by students to check their own work. This makes it ideal as a literary center activity.

This resource is ideal for teenage or adult ESL/ELL students to help them sound more like a native speaker when it comes to saying words that end in ED (accent reduction).

I have created a pronunciation video on YouTube about this topic: ED pronunciation in English – How to pronounce ED endings (Suitable for the classroom).

CONTENT: This resource contains 4 Pages:

• Pronunciation of ED – Word Search – ID Version – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Teacher Answers – ID Version – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Word Search – ED Version – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Teacher Answers – ED Version – (1 page)

LEVEL: Intermediate (CEFR – B1 Level)
AGE: 10+
Format: .PDF

Una sopa de letras para aprender la pronunciación de palabras que terminan con ED en inglés.

Why does the ending of helped sound like a T, the end of opened sound like a D, and the end of wanted is a whole new syllable with a sound like ID?
There are three ways of pronouncing the final ED at the end of words in English:
/t/, /d/, or /id/.

Our charts explains the general rules for the pronunciation of words ending in –ED. These words are normally regular verbs in the past tense but these rules can also be applied to adjectives and past participles that end in -ED.

This resource is ideal for teenage or adult ESL/ELL students to help them sound more like a native speaker. It is a great reference guide to help accent modification.

Summary Chart
The first chart is a summary of how to pronounce -ED showing /t/, /d/, or /id/ endings with examples.

Summary Chart – Smaller 2 per page version
Then we have a smaller version of this same chart with two of them on one page (surrounded by cutting lines).

/t/ Pronunciation Chart
This chart contains examples of words that end with the voiceless /t/ pronunciation. There is a box for each letter (P, K, F & GH, SH, CH, SS, C, X) and six examples of that letter (e.g. for P are the words developed, helped, jumped, stopped, trapped, and typed). The letter F and GH are in the same box with two examples for each.

/d/ Pronunciation Chart
This chart contains examples of words that end with the voiced /d/ pronunciation. There is a box for each letter (L, N, R, G, V, Z, B, M) and six examples for each letter.

/id/ Pronunciation Chart
This chart contains examples of words that end with the voiced /id/ pronunciation. There are 18 examples of verbs that end D and 18 examples of verbs that end in T.

Pronunciation Mix Chart
The final chart contains a variety rules:

VOWEL SOUND: There are 12 examples of verbs that end in a vowel sound that have the voiced /d/ pronunciation at the end (e.g. agreed, followed, etc.).
THE LETTER S: We look at how the letter S can sound like a Z thus having a voiced /d/ ending. (6 examples) – The letter S can also sound like an S thus having a voiceless /t/ ending. (6 examples)
TH: We give 6 examples of verbs that end in TH or THE and how the final ED has a voiced /d/ pronunciation.
EXCEPTIONS: There is also mention of an exception regarding adjectives where the final -ED is pronounced as a separate syllable (e.g. naked, wicked).

There are two versions of these charts, one that is designed in one color (green) and the other is with color-coding of /id/ in green, /t/ in orange, and /d/ in blue. Check the preview to see this difference.

I have also created a pronunciation video on YouTube about this topic: ED pronunciation in English – How to pronounce ED endings (Suitable for the classroom).

CONTENT: This resource contains 12 Pages:

One-color Version:

• Pronunciation of ED – Summary Chart – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Summary Chart – Smaller Version – (1 page)
• Voiceless /t/ Chart – (1 page)
• Voiced /d/ Chart – (1 page)
• Extra Syllable /id/ Chart – (1 page)
• Exceptions Chart – (1 page)

Color-coded Version:

• Pronunciation of ED – Summary Chart – (1 page)
• Pronunciation of ED – Summary Chart – Smaller Version – (1 page)
• Voiceless /t/ Chart – (1 page)
• Voiced /d/ Chart – (1 page)
• Extra Syllable /id/ Chart – (1 page)
• Exceptions Chart – (1 page)

LEVEL: Intermediate (CEFR – B1 Level)
AGE: 10+
Format: .PDF

Afiches para aprender la pronunciación de palabras que terminan con ED en inglés.